The Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource (FCCSSR) offers a variety of cell based research services, principally analytical and sorting flow cytometry. The instrumentation necessary for high speed cell analysis and sorting is expensive and requires a high level of technical expertise; therefore, this equipment is best situated in an institutional Shared Resource. The FCCSSR provides for the maintenance of the instrumentation, operation of the Shared Resource, and training and consultation in the use of flow cytometry in experimental work. The staff offers guidance and training to faculty, staff, professional trainees and students in the entire range of skills needed to utilize flow cytometry, including design of experiments, sample preparation and staining, data acquisition, post-acquisition analysis, and sorting. The staff organizes regular training sessions for investigators, given by visiting technical specialists or by the staff themselves. The Shared Resource provides materials related to investigators' data and approaches that can support the feasibility of experiments for grant applications, and provides publication-quality representations of primary data when needed. One of the unique features of this Shared Resource is developmental work that is incorporated into the design of the resource. Because the personnel and directors of the FCCSSR have been active in development of new techniques in flow cytometry, the Shared Resource has relationships with corporations for the development of new techniques in fluorescence detection and instrumentation and with other investigators for novel bioinformatics approaches. This feature will facilitate rapid adoption of new protocols and techniques. Dr. James E. Crowe, Jr. is the Scientific Director of the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource. He meets regularly with staff to review Shared Resource performance, policies, billing and budget status, personnel issues, protocols and procedures, quality assurance and quality control, and developmental studies.